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All the United States Illinois Chicago L.H. Selman Glass Gallery

L.H. Selman Glass Gallery

Over 1,000 pieces of one of the most niche art objects imaginable: the glass paperweight.

Chicago, Illinois

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Ashley Leitner
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Gallery view.   al544 / Atlas Obscura User
Skull paperweight.   al544 / Atlas Obscura User
David Graeber paperweight.   al544 / Atlas Obscura User
Paperweights for auction.   al544 / Atlas Obscura User
New Orleans paperweight.   al544 / Atlas Obscura User
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Jim Donofrio paperweight.   al544 / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Just a few paces from Mag Mile and the Art Institute of Chicago sits the Fine Arts Building, a hodgepodge of artsy studio and exhibition spaces that seem ripped right out of a Wes Anderson movie. Among the neighboring puppet makers, fine instrument repairs, and speciality bookstores, the quaint L.H. Selman Glass Gallery manages to hold its own by showing off the surprising diversity of its highly specialized stock.

Though L.H. Selman has been around for over half a century, the gallery has only been housed in Chicago for about 10 years. During this time, the company has displayed and auctioned off thousands and thousands of modern and antique paperweights, the production of which boomed in the mid-19th century, dwindled off, and then revived again in the middle of the 20th century.

While the gallery certainly features a lot of “typical” paperweight subject matter—flowers, birds, fruit, and such—it also has a number of unusual pieces depicting skulls, galaxies, and celebrities. The craftsmanship of all of the pieces is so astonishing that even the flowers, birds, and fruits shouldn’t be dismissed as mundane. L.H. Selman’s gallery is perfect for those looking for glassy art in a classy building.

Related Tags

Art Gallery Art Gallery Glass Collections

Know Before You Go

Take the human-operated elevator to the second floor of the Fine Arts Building. There's a lovely bookshop called The Dial next door!

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al544

Published

July 19, 2019

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L.H. Selman Glass Gallery
410 South Michigan Avenue
#207
Chicago, Illinois
United States
41.876442, -87.624691
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Chicago

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Rudolph Ganz Memorial Hall

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miles away

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miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Chicago

Chicago

Illinois

Places 161
Stories 54

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